Meet Xelli Island | Musical Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Xelli Island and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Xelli Island, why did you pursue a creative career?
My pursuit is driven from a place of love, curiosity, and a deep appreciation for what art in the form of music can do for us. Life is short and precious and difficult and without music it would be absolutely unbearable. So I’d like to spend my time here creating something that is so sacred to me. I’ve worked so many different types of jobs and while I have respect for all of the various paths we can take, I know I feel the most connected to myself when I’m creating music and singing. Bearing witness to a feeling or story from my little life slowly transforming into melodies and into a song that people will hear and digest and have their own feelings about is the most remarkable experience in the world to me. Making music feels like alchemy and I can’t imagine not doing everything in my power to deepen that practice.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The music I make comes from a deep desire to understand myself and make some sense out of life and all of the heartbreak and pain and joy and love that we experience. It’s never been an easy pursuit. There are parts of it that may feel easy for a moment but everything surrounding it as a profession is difficult and ever-changing. I don’t approach making music from the perspective of making money. That would feel bogus to me. Even though I’ve been making music for 19 years I still struggle financially and have to work other jobs in order to survive. But I’m not mad at that. My life is my life and I’ve learned so very much about peace from accepting where I’m at and honoring it. I trust in my dream and know that what’s meant for me will come. I guess what I’d love for people to know is that I’m extremely passionate and I’ve been at it for a very long time. There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not ingesting music or thinking about a song that I’m making.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Okaaaaay I’m a Virgo so it will be hard to not drop a full itinerary. But a condensed version of absolute *musts* would have to be…..iced Hojicha lattes at Thank You Coffee in Chinatown, a daytime visit to the Chinese Gardens at the Huntington Library, a park hang at Elysian, lunch at Thien Huong for their Banh Mi, vintage shopping along Figueroa in Highland Park, yoga classes at Kinship Yoga, definitely a hike to Sandstone Peak, cocktails at Tiki Ti or Thunderbolt, spicy Thai dinner and natty wine at Night + Market Song (basically my second home here in LA), catch a show at Zebulon, karaoke at Melody Lounge, dancing at the Short Stop or Homage, see a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse for sure and if it’s summertime…Cinespia at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, hit Wi Spa in Koreatown to detox, and we’d end the week with a full body massage at Panda massage where they beat you up in the best way possible haha.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I owe a lot of credit to my hometown of Detroit and all of the lovely people who live there and supported the music scene as I developed my voice and sound over the years. Detroit is a really inspiring place to grow up and I was lucky to start my musical journey at it’s core. It naturally instilled priorities in me that I keep to this day; how it’s important to keep creativity at the top of the list even when you may not have a lot of money or resources or connections. It may sound silly but the city as a whole gave me the confidence to believe in myself as an artist. I spent many years feeling supported and embraced by its vibrant music scene. During my time there I made lifelong friends turned collaborators. Amongst them are Jon Zott, who produced all of my releases thus far and Mathew Hofman who has been my bandmate for many years. They both have helped immensely in bringing this project to life in both the studio and live shows. Currently I’m working on my first full length album and am in awe of my main collaborator, Jesse Schuster who is a multi-faceted instrumentalist and producer. I’m really excited about the world we are creating with this album. Although this is technically a solo project, it would be be nothing without these folks. Trusted collaboration is so important!!!

Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Hd7uyxLIPZMxOpcZIZ7sV?si=w5GNyyDgR1qQ5Jkpo3akZg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xelli__island/

Image Credits
Addison Swartout